game trailblazer

Chapter 111 Game Academy
After Xu Qian left, Zhang Lexing came to his office and sat down on the sofa. Not long after, Xu Qian came back with a folder in his hand.

"Boss, this is the report." Xu Qian took out a document from the folder and handed it over.

Zhang Lexing took the documents and took a look. On the cover was written "Investigation Report on Game Development Companies and Teams in BJ Area".Open the cover, and inside reads: "The investigation in this report started in August 1992 and ended in January 8..."

"Boss, this report has a lot of content, why don't I briefly introduce it to you first." Xu Qian asked softly beside him.

"Okay, let's talk about it first." Looking at the thickness of the report, there should be a lot of content, so Zhang Lexing didn't mind reading it first.

"Boss, at your request, I started this survey in August last year. There are two main companies developing games in BJ. One is Pioneer Cartoon, which was established in November 1991. It was developed by Tianzhiyuan FC. After the technology is authorized, it is currently planning to develop FC games. The specific project is unknown. In addition, the company also intends to run a game-related publication. The other is Jinpan Electronics, which was established in April 11. It is a Sino-foreign joint venture CD publishing company. At that time, he published an educational game called 'Where is Carmen Sandiego? (Where is Carmen Santiago?)'. At present, a game development department has been established and plans to develop computer games, but the specific project is unknown.

……

In addition to companies involved in game development, there are also some small-scale amateur game development groups. Most of these groups are three to five people working on development, and the members are generally college students who love games.These amateur game development teams are scattered in various colleges and universities. Because Pioneer Cartoon once held prize-winning game idea collection activities in colleges and universities, some college students were attracted to Pioneer Cartoon to work part-time, and some members of the amateur game development team also appeared among them.

……

In addition, I read a news from the newspaper that Zhiguan Company from Taiwan has set up a branch in Guangzhou and a game development studio, but it seems that it does not intend to launch games for the mainland market. "

After Zhang Lexing listened to it, he read the investigation report again, and he did a good job. It seems that this classmate Wang Mengyao is quite capable.After reading this report, Zhang Lexing generally understands that BJ's ability to engage in game development is still very weak, which basically represents the game development strength of the entire mainland (of course, the Tianzhiyuan invested by Zhang Lexing is mainly export-oriented, so there is no Included), I can't help but think of the problem of training game development talents that I thought about before.

Zhang Lexing's office is on the side facing the street, and he can see the scenery outside through the glass window. When he turned his eyes to the window, a huge billboard appeared in front of him, "Software College, because of its professionalism, it is excellent!"

It turned out that all the advertisements of the Software Academy came here. Looking at the huge billboard, Zhang Lexing couldn't help but think of "Game Academy".As the name suggests, the Game Academy is a place dedicated to cultivating game development talents. It is an institution that was born as the gap in game development talents is getting bigger and bigger. Most of the training content is the basis of some game development, and the training time is only one year at most. It is conceivable what can be learned for a person with no foundation.The game academy has been a product of mixed reputation since its birth. On the one hand, it may have provided talents for some game development companies, but on the other hand, it has the commercial purpose of making money on students under the guise of revitalizing the game industry.But for the current situation of poverty and blankness, anything that can help the game industry is very precious, and in the hands of Zhang Lexing, the game academy doesn't need to make money on the students.

Now there is no need to worry about funding for a game academy. The biggest problem is the number of teachers. The game academy is different from on-the-job training. It must have a certain number of regular teachers, and Zhang Lexing is now qualified as a trainer only Xiao Donghai is alone. Those first-line developers are not unable to give lectures, but if they can do it themselves, it doesn’t mean they will teach others, and this kind of trainer is not available in China. It seems that we have to look outside, maybe there will be suitable ones Candidates.

Thinking of this, Zhang Lexing and Xu Qian said: "It's okay, you go out first, and call Xiao Donghai over by the way, I have something to talk to him about."

Xu Qian nodded, turned and left, after a while Xiao Donghai walked into Zhang Lexing's office.

"Boss, are you looking for me?"

"Old Xiao, sit down first, I have something to ask you." Zhang Lexing motioned Xiao Donghai to sit on the sofa.

Xiao Donghai came to the sofa and sat down, then said, "Boss, what do you want to ask?"

"I haven't been here a while ago, I wonder how the training effect of this batch of newcomers is?"

"Honestly speaking, except for some people who already have a foundation, the effect of others is not too great, after all, the time is too short. But after joining the job, using the method of bringing the old with the new should allow them to grow up."

"Old Xiao, if the training period is extended to one year, do you think the effect will be much better?"

"It's hard to say. One-year training requires much more teachers than a three-month short training class. I'm afraid we don't have the strength yet. The key is that we don't have experience in this field. It's hard to say."

"Old Xiao, I think so. At present, the company has a total of 62 game developers. From a long-term perspective, this number of people is definitely not enough. Our current three-month short training class is only suitable for some basics. Yes, for those new employees who have no foundation at all, it may be just to let them get started, which will have a big impact on our daily development work. The previous way of going abroad for further study is not suitable for everyone, so I I wonder if there should be a longer and more formal training method, such as the software academy. Of course, we can only start with regular training courses at the beginning. The training period is tentatively scheduled for one year. One month of basic learning, and then nine months of professional training according to different majors."

"Boss, it's not impossible for you to think like this, but I'm afraid it's not enough to rely on me alone. You know that I belong to the kind of person who knows a little about everything, but is not proficient. It's okay to talk about the basics, and more professional training is the best. It’s better to be a more professional person.”

"Old Xiao, I plan to officially start this training class in September. Before this period of time, you have to go through the relevant procedures first, because you want to make this training class more formal, and you need to advertise. Of course, considering the current For the issue of the number of teachers, we will set up a class with about [-] people for the time being, find a way to get the teaching materials out first, and there is also the issue of the training venue. As for the matter of strengthening the number of teachers, I will come up with a solution. In addition, you don’t need to pay for the funding of the training class Don’t worry, I will arrange another special fund for you.”

"Okay boss, then I'll check the situation first and see what's needed. Well, there's nothing else, I'm leaving first." After speaking, Xiao Donghai got up and left.

After Xiao Donghai left, Zhang Lexing pondered the issue of the number of teachers for game development training. There are people in this field abroad, but you can't ask the students to be able to speak English well. It seems that for the time being, we can only tap the potential internally. Zhan Jun and his group of old people have thought of ways to do it, anyway, Zhang Lexing is not in a hurry to make money from the creative workshop right away.

It's a pity that everyone is busy with testing or rushing to work on "Transport Tycoon", so it's not easy to interrupt for the time being, so let's wait until next week to talk about this matter.But when it comes to testing, Zhang Lexing feels that it is not enough to have no full-time testers. Now the testing work takes up a lot of developers' time, which is too wasteful. It seems that the focus of this year's recruitment can be on game testing.

Thinking of this, Zhang Lexing got up and left his office, and decided to talk to Chu Jing about the recruitment. It was about time.When I came to the administration department, Chu Jing was the only one left, and the others didn't know what to do.

"Chu Jing, have you made your recruitment plan for this year?"

"Oh, happy. The recruitment plan is done, which is similar to last year. Would you like to take a look." Chu Jing took out a folder from the drawer and handed it over.

Zhang Lexing took it over and took a look. It was really the same as last year. The old three recruited were planning, programming, and art. The number of people was a little more than last year, and three more marketing staff were added.Zhang Lexing shook his head and returned the folder to Chu Jing.

"This won't work. I've learned that this kind of short-term training is not very effective. We can't add more people to our planning, programming, and art. I suggest that this year the company should focus on recruiting game testers. This requirement is not too high. Gao, just drop one or two old employees to give guidance. There is no need for too much training. In addition, the market can recruit a few people. We can start to try to do the domestic market and accumulate some experience. The company still lacks professional music production People, this aspect needs to be considered from now on, it can’t always be outsourced to Hong Kong, I also have to cultivate some of my own talents.”

"Well, I will readjust this year's recruitment plan, but it is really difficult to recruit music producers. Now most of the people who understand music are in music colleges or art troupes. Most of them are in these two places, and I am afraid that there are almost no people who are willing to come to make game music, and you may not be interested in those who are willing to come."

"Let's try it out. You can find out if there is anyone who is engaged in computer music production. Maybe we can find the people we need from here." Zhang Lexing recalled that domestic game music producers seemed to start from computer music production. I was lucky to be able to make an appointment with the right candidate.

"Okay, I'll go and find out." Chu Jing agreed to the matter, but her expression seemed uncertain.

"By the way, where is Chen Jingyi? Why haven't I seen her these two days?" Zhang Lexing thought of the woman in white that impressed him deeply.

"She is busy contacting the export of "Thunder Bricks" and "Transportation Tycoon". It seems that she went to send the demo version of the game yesterday. Today, I heard that the other party has information to send. Chen Jingyi went to the post office to pick up the package. went."

"Which company did Chen Jingyi contact?" Zhang Lexing asked curiously.

"It's the contact information you left behind. The EA company you contacted first was not interested. Later, you approached Activision. Finally, you have an interest. However, you will not know if you can formally sign the contract until the demo version is sent."

Unexpectedly, Chen Jingyi was quite capable, and she dared to directly contact foreign game agency companies. It seems that what she said when she applied for the job was not just nonsense.Zhang Lexing decided to give Chen Jingyi some more opportunities in the future, maybe she can make even better results.

Back in his office, Zhang Lexing took out Xu Qian's report again, "Pioneer Cartoon has attracted some college students to take part-time jobs, and some members of the amateur game development team also appeared in it" and other words caught his attention.

"I don't know how good the college students who work part-time in Pioneer Cartoon are. Maybe I can go and have a look, and maybe I can meet some suitable ones." Zhang Lexing secretly made a decision that he must take a chance to come to Pioneer Cartoon these few days. Then go around, maybe there are some hidden characters.

(End of this chapter)